Her directorial debut won her many an award. But as most people know, one of Seema Pahwa’s biggest triumphs was when Javed Akhtar was so bowled over by her writing that he invited her with the cast of her film Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi to dinner at his place. From then on, it’s been a mutual admiration society between the two. And so, when Seema and actor-husband Manoj Pahwa met Javed at the private screening of a new film, there was camaraderie in the air.
Sample: Seema had directed a stellar cast in Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi including Naseeruddin Shah and Supriya Pathak. “Only one actor troubled me on set and that was this man,” she disclosed pointing to her husband.
“Naturally,” quipped Javed. “After being directed 24/7 at home, a husband is entitled to take his revenge at least in the workplace.”
The Akhtar-Pahwa friendship is now poised to take a new turn — Seema will be directing Javed in her next film, he’s a perfect fit for a character she has written in her new script. “I’ve been trying to convince Seemaji that not every handsome man can be an actor,” Javed wisecracked before graciously accepting her offer.
The warmth in the preview theatre belied what everybody knew — that two days later, the film they were watching and all other releases, too, would be met by a box office that has icicles around it.
Indra Kumar, the director of Ajay Devgn’s recent film Thank God, which also faced ice-cold collections, pondered over the current predicament. The man who directed blockbusters like Beta and Dil and was behind Madhuri Dixit’s dhak-dhak moves said aloud, “The audience is just not willing to step in. I think they’ve got spoilt by two years of free OTT watching.”
A sensible member of the audience had another reason. “It’s the arrogance of the film people that has irritated the audience. Arrogance catches up with the best of them in every high-profile field.”
Virat Kohli was cited as an example. It wasn’t the cricketer’s Diwali message against the use of firecrackers that irked the public as much as his high moral tone that seemed to say, “I’m going to educate you, you philistines, on how to celebrate your festival.” But once poor form on the field stripped him of his arrogance, the excitement of a schoolboy returned to his face when he helped India beat Pakistan and became Man of the Match. When he thanked the media for giving him a card and a cake on his birthday at his favourite Melbourne ground, the return of childlike enthusiasm was endearing.
In politics too, after winning a landslide victory and becoming Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi’s abrasive hubris had overtaken his natural affability. It was demonstrated best when he fired foreign secretary A.P. Venkateswaran at a press conference in the senior bureaucrat’s presence.
But once Rajiv sat in the Opposition, his niceness returned and, like Kohli, he too may have returned to the treasury benches if Sriperumbudur had not happened.
At this juncture, I can’t help remembering a baretorso sadhu in an orange dhoti who’d walked unannounced into the editor’s cabin of the erstwhile Eve’s Weekly sometime in 1990.
Around this time, Sanjay Dutt’s first wife Richa Sharma had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour and medical reports coming in from New York had been dire. “Sunil Dutt ki bahu, na?” the fakir had confirmed before predicting, “She’ll come to India, you’ll meet her.”
But, he said, “Rajiv Gandhi will never become Prime Minister again.”
Both predictions had been contrary to popular belief. But on a short visit to India, Richa did meet me in Mumbai before she went back and slipped away.
As for Rajiv Gandhi, we all know what happened to him.
If only I could find that unnamed visitor from 1990, perhaps he’d have the answer to when the box office will welcome the Hindi film industry once again.
Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author
